Suspensions down

Changes in city’s ed policy keep kids in school

Shifts in city education policy helped slash school suspensions by 14.5% over the first 100 days of this school year, new Department of Education data shows.

In total, city schools gave out 15,307 suspensions in the first 100 days of the school year, compared to 17,900 in the same period last year.

“We made historic investments in the social and emotional well-being of our students, which is more important now than ever,” said schools Chancellor Richard Carranza (photo). “Decreasing suspensions demonstrate our schools have laid the groundwork for maintaining supportive and safe environments for our students remotely.”

The drop comes in the wake of reforms to the Education Department’s discipline code that discourage longerterm suspensions, which fall disproportionately on black and Latino students and often harm students’ educational outcomes.

Longer-term suspensions — assigned by local Education Department superintendents — dropped by 25% through the first 100 days of the school year, the data shows.

Suspensions are down 50% since Mayor de Blasio took office, officials said.

Education Department officials credited the decline in suspensions to investments in social emotional support for students, mental health services, and restorative justice, which seeks to help students repair damage they’ve caused by misbehavior.

Some critics have said the reforms to the discipline code tie the hands of school administrators who rely on suspensions to maintain order. The city principals union said in January that only 21% of school administrators polled were satisfied with the reforms.

Union officials said approaches like restorative justice are promising, but aren’t being implemented quickly or thoroughly enough in city schools.

Education Department officials said no school administrators have requested suspensions since students switched to remote learning in late March, and that social workers and counselors are on call for students experiencing emotional trauma.

Department officials credited the decline in suspensions to investments in social emotional support for students, mental health services, and restorative justice, which seeks to help students repair damage they’ve caused by misbehavior.

City schools have also seen a big drop in arrests and summonses issued by school safety officers.

Arrests were also down 33% from January to March compared to the same period of 2019 — a significant decline even though students were out of school for the last two weeks of March because of the pandemic.

Arrests were down by half last fall compared to the same period of 2018.